STACKABLE PLASTIC TOY BUILDING BLOCKS

Abstract

The present disclosure provides toy building blocks that easily stack and break apart. The blocks may include posts that nest inside receptacles to facilitate stacking of the blocks. The blocks may be figure 8-shaped, and may include bevels and/or protrusions to facilitate decoupling of stacked blocks without any tools.

Description

BACKGROUND

Technical Field

The present invention relates to toy building blocks.

Background of the Invention

Plastic toy building blocks that stack on each other are known in the art.

An example of such building blocks are the BETTERBLOCKS stackable plastic toy building blocks that were sold in the 1990's. The difficulty with such blocks is that they were difficult to unstack. Accordingly, the BETTERBLOCKS blocks were sold with a tool that allowed a user to decouple the blocks, i.e., pop the blocks apart. However, such tools created an extra part that was easily lost.

Thus, there is a need for plastic toy building blocks that couple and decouple with ease. There is also a particular need for ensuring that such building blocks can be easily manufacturable, e.g., by injection molding without requiring complicated tooling, and do not create a mold lock.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure provides toy building blocks and methods of using same.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a top perspective view of a stackable plastic toy building block of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a bottom perspective view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 illustrates a top plan view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a bottom plan view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 illustrates a front elevation view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 1 stacked on top of a similarly shaped stackable plastic toy building block in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 illustrates a sectional view of the stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 1 taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of the section of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 illustrates a left elevation view of the stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 illustrates a sectional view of the stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 8 taken along line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 illustrates a perspective view of the section of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 illustrates a top perspective view of stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates a top perspective view of stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 illustrates another top perspective view of the stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 12.

FIG. 14 illustrates a top plan view of the stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 12; in FIG. 14, a line is shown to illustrate how the blocks are able to be angled relative to each other.

FIG. 15 illustrates a top perspective view of a stackable plastic toy building block of another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 illustrates a bottom perspective view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 illustrates a top plan view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 15.

FIG. 18 illustrates a bottom plan view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 15.

FIG. 19 illustrates a front elevation view of the stackable plastic toy building block of FIG. 15 stacked on top of a similarly shaped stackable plastic toy building block in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 20 illustrates a sectional view of the stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 19 taken along line 20-20 of FIG. 19.

FIG. 21 illustrates a perspective view of the section of FIG. 19.

FIG. 22 illustrates a left elevation view of the stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 19.

FIG. 23 illustrates a sectional view of the stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 22 taken along line 23-23 of FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 illustrates a closeup of the circled area labelled 23 in FIG. 24.

FIG. 25 illustrates a perspective view of the section of FIG. 23.

FIG. 26 illustrates a top perspective view of stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 27 illustrates another top perspective view of the stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 26.

FIG. 28 illustrates a top plan view of the stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks of FIG. 26; in FIG. 28, a line is shown to illustrate how the blocks are able to be angled relative to each other.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference to FIGS. 1-28 the present disclosure provides a set of stackable plastic toy building blocks designated by the numeral 8. In the drawings, not all reference numbers are included in each of the drawings for the sake of clarity. FIGS. 1-28 are drawn generally to scale, however, it will be appreciated that other dimensions are possible.

Like BETTERBLOCKS and other toy stackable plastic toy building blocks, the stackable plastic toy building block 10 may include a top 12 comprising a plurality of posts 14, a bottom 16, a height 20 extending from the top 12 to the bottom 16, a left face 22, a right face 24, a length 26 extending from the left face 22 to the right face 24 and perpendicular to the height 20, a front face 28, a rear face 30, a width 32 extending from the front face 28 to the rear face 30 and perpendicular to the height 20 and length 26, and a plurality of receptacles 18 located below the top 12. Like BETTERBLOCKS and other toy stackable plastic toy building blocks 10, the plurality of receptacles 18 are preferably located adjacent the bottom 16 in the interior 46 of the stackable plastic toy building blocks 10. And like BETTERBLOCKS and other toy stackable plastic toy building blocks 10, the stackable plastic toy building blocks 10 are configured to removably attach by placing the posts 14 of an upper plastic toy building block 10A in the receptacles 18 of a lower stackable plastic toy building block 10B located below the upper plastic toy building block 10A. Preferably, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 23 for example, each receptacle 18 is located directly below a post 14, for example, so that a post 14 of an upper block 10A is located directly below the post 14 of a lower block 10B.

Unlike BETTERBLOCKS and other stackable plastic toy building blocks 10, the stackable plastic toy building blocks of the present invention 10 comprise at least one of the following features configured to allow a user to easily decouple stacked stackable plastic toy building blocks 10 (including any combination of such features). Optionally, the feature(s) is configured to allow a user to detach (i.e., pull apart) a stack of the stackable plastic toy building blocks 10 with the user's fingers alone (without any tools). An upper stackable plastic toy building block that is stacked on top of a lower stackable plastic toy building block is denoted by the numeral 10A and the lower stackable plastic toy building block is denoted by the numeral 10B.

First, as shown in FIGS. 1-28, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 may include a beveled top left edge 34 and/or beveled top right edge 34 (i.e., a divot or recess 38 located on the top of the left face 22 and/or the top of the right face 24 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10). The divot or recess 38 may be any shape including semi-circular/arc-shaped, as shown in FIGS. 1-28. If such feature is included, due to the divot or recess 38, at least a portion of the top left edge of a lower stackable plastic building block 10B preferably does not contact the bottom left edge of an upper stackable plastic building block 10A and the top right edge of a lower stackable plastic building block 10B preferably does not contact the bottom right edge of the upper stackable plastic building block 10A to facilitate decoupling of the blocks—i.e., a gap 44 is between at least a portion of the top 12 of the lower stackable plastic building block 10B and bottom edge 16 of the upper stackable plastic building block 10A at the left 22 and right faces 24, as best seen in FIGS. 5, 9, 10, 19, 23 and 24. Such gap 44 may allow a user to separate the upper 10A and lower 10B stackable plastic toy building blocks using his fingertips. Optionally, the gap 44 has a height of, for example, about 0.01 inches to about 0.1 inches (e.g., about 0.04 inch). The divot/recess 38 may or may extend the full width of the left 22 and right faces 24. Optionally, the bottom left edge and bottom right edge are also beveled 34, as shown in FIGS. 23-24, to increase the size of the gap 44 and make it easier to separate the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks 10A and 10B. Preferably, the divot/recess 38 has a width 48 parallel to the block width that is at least about 0.25 inches, e.g., about 0.25 inches to about 0.5 inches, more preferably, about 0.3 inches to about 0.4 inches.

Second, as an alternative to or in combination with the first feature, the aforementioned divot/recess 38 may be located on the front and rear faces 28/30. This second feature is not shown in the illustrations but is a variation of the first feature, which is shown. More particularly, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 may include a beveled top front edge 34 and/or beveled top rear edge 34 (i.e., a divot or recess 38 located on the top of the front face 28 and/or the top of the rear face 30 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10). Again, the divot/recess 38 may be any shape including semi-circular/arc-shaped. Similarly, in such embodiments due to the divot or recess 38, at least a portion of the top front edge and bottom front edges of stacked blocks 10A and 10B preferably do not contact, and the top rear edge and bottom rear edges of stacked blocks 10A and 10B preferably do not contact each other to facilitate decoupling of the blocks 10A and 10B—i.e., a gap 44 is between the top and bottom edges of the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks 10A and 10B at at least a portion of the front and rear faces 28/30. The divot/recess 38 may or may not extend the full length of the front and rear faces 28/30.

Third, as an alternative or in combination with any of the above features, as best seen in FIGS. 3-4 and 17-18, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 may have a figure 8-shaped top 12 (i.e., the top 12 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10 is generally in the shape of a figure 8), and/or a figure 8-shaped bottom 16. Preferably, as best seen in FIGS. 3-4 and 17-18, the entire stackable plastic toy building block 10 is in the shape of a figure 8, in which case, the left, right, front and rear faces 22, 24, 28 and 30 are rounded. In other words, the plastic stackable toy building block 10 may include left and right lobes 36 that are separated by arc-shaped recesses 38 in the front and rear faces 28/30 that are located approximately midway along length 26. Without being bound by any particular theory, the figure-8 shape may allow for a greater degree of rotation of adjacent blocks 10 by reducing interference between neighboring blocks 10 located at the same height. More particularly, as shown in FIGS. 14 and 28, the top left and top right Figure 8-shaped blocks 10A that are connected to and stacked on the central block 10B in the middle layer are able to be oriented at an angle greater than 45 degrees relative to the central block 10B in the middle layer (namely 62.5 degrees in FIG. 25 and 66.5 degrees in FIG. 28). By contrast, if the top left and top right blocks 10A were rectangular, they would only be able to be angled at 45 degrees relative to the central block 10B in the middle layer due to interference between the front and rear faces 28/30 of the top blocks 10A. However, if the blocks 10A are figure-8 shaped, as in FIGS. 1-28, a lobe 36 of each of the top left blocks is able to nest inside an arc-shaped recess 38 of the other of the top left block, and similarly a lobe 36 of each of the top right blocks is able to nest inside an arc-shaped recess 38 of the other of the top right block.

Fourth, as an alternative or in combination with any of the above features, as shown in FIGS. 1-14, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 may include a protrusion 40 located on the front and/or rear faces 28/30 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10 located between the top 12 and the bottom 16 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10. The protrusion 40 may provide a grasping area for the user's fingers and may extend laterally out at least 0.25 millimeters (e.g., from about 0.25 to about 1 mm). The protrusion 40 may be any shape. The protrusion 40 may be located midway along height 20 and is preferably located in the recesses 38 of the figure 8, as shown in FIGS. 1, 2, 5-7 and 11.

Fifth, as an alternative to or in combination with any of the above features, the left and/or right faces 22/24 of the stackable plastic toy building block may include a protrusion 40. This fifth feature is not shown in the illustration but is a variation of the fourth feature, which is shown. If present, the protrusion 40 may provide a grasping area, may be located between the top 12 and the bottom 16 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10, may extend laterally out at least 0.25 mm, may be any shape, and may be located midway along height 20.

Optionally, a beveled edge 34 may extend partly or fully around the perimeter 54 of the top of each stackable plastic toy building block 10 to facilitate alignment of the blocks 10. See FIGS. 15-28 (where the beveled edge 34 extends around the perimeter 54 of the top 12 of each stackable toy building block 10).

Optionally, as best seen in FIGS. 20-24, for example, a beveled edge 34 may extend partly or fully around the perimeter of the bottom 56 of each stackable plastic toy building block 10 to facilitate alignment of the blocks.

Preferably, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 is manufactured by injection molding, and accordingly, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 includes design features assisting injection molding.

As known to those of ordinary skill, a draft angle 42 is a taper applied to the vertical walls of the injection-molded component to assist with releasing the part from the mold. Preferably, all faces of the stackable plastic toy building blocks 10 include a draft angle 42 to facilitate ejection from the mold. Any draft angle 42 desired may be used. In some embodiments, the draft angle 42 is between about 3 and about 30 degrees. In addition, if for example, the protrusion 40 is included on the front and rear faces 28/30, preferably the protrusion 40 includes a draft angle 42, but the draft angle 42 of the protrusion 40 is less than the draft angle 42 of the face that includes the protrusion 40. For example, in some embodiments, the draft angle 42 of the protrusion 40 is at least two degrees less than the draft angle 42 of the face that includes the protrusion 40. For example, in some embodiments the protrusions 40 may have a draft angle 42 of, for example, about 3-5 degrees, and the front and rear faces 28/30 may have a draft angle 42 of, for example, 2-10 degrees greater. However, one of ordinary skill will appreciate that different draft angles can be used depending on the circumstances.

To also assist in injection molding, each of the front 28, rear 30, left 22 and right 24 faces of each of the stackable plastic toy building block 10 may comprise a draft angle/taper 42 of between about 3 degrees and about 30 degrees. Similarly, in some embodiments, if each stackable plastic toy building block front face 28 and rear face 30 comprises a protrusion 40, each front and rear face 28/30 may comprise a draft angle 42 that is greater than the draft angle 42 of the protrusion 40 to avoid mold lock, as best seen in FIG. 6. Optionally, the length 26 of the top 12 of each stackable plastic toy building block 10 is less than the length 26 of the bottom 16 of the stackable plastic toy building block (due to the draft). Optionally, the width 32 of the top 12 of each stackable plastic toy building block 10 is less than the width 32 of the bottom 16 of the stackable plastic toy building block 10 (due to the draft).

Optionally, each stackable plastic toy building block 10 is rigid. Optionally, the plastic comprising the stackable plastic toy building block 10 has a Rockwell R hardness of 70-120.

Optionally, the posts 14 and receptacles 18 are cylindrical and the receptacles 18 have a cylindrical wall 50 that surrounds a cylindrical interior 52 that receives the posts 14. Optionally, the post 14 includes a rib 58 that extends around a circumference of the post 14 to facilitate connection of the post 14 to the receptacle 18.

Optionally, the length 26 is greater than the width 32.

Optionally, as best seen in FIGS. 3-4 and 17-18, each stackable toy building block 10 is symmetrical about a center of the stackable plastic toy building block length 26 and/or width 32.

Optionally, as best seen in FIGS. 2, 4, 16 and 18, each building block comprises a substantially hollow interior 46 and substantially open bottom 16.

Optionally, as best seen in FIGS. 2, 4, 16 and 18, the posts 14 and receptacles 18 of each stackable plastic toy building block 10 in the set 8 are substantially the same size and shape so any stackable plastic toy building block 10 can be stacked onto any other stackable plastic toy building block 10 in the set 8.

The stackable plastic toy building block 10 can be used in any suitable manner. For example, in some embodiments, the method includes: coupling at least two stackable plastic toy building blocks 10 by placing the posts 14 of the lower stackable plastic toy building block 10B in the receptacles 18 of the upper stackable plastic toy building block 10A; and decoupling the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks 10A and 10B without using any tools (e.g., by placing the user's fingers on the protrusions 40 and/or bevels 34 and pulling apart).

PARTS LIST

Set                              8
Plastic stackable toy building blocks 10
(also referred to as blocks)
Top blocks                       10A
Center block                     10B
Top                              12
Posts                            14
Bottom                           16
Receptacles                      18
Height                           20
Left Face                        22
Right Face                       24
Length                           26
Front face                       28
Rear Face                        30
Width                            32
Beveled edge                     34
Lobe                             36
Recess                           38
Protrusion                       40
Draft Angle                      42
Gap                              44
Interior                         46
Recess/Divot width               48
Cylindrical Wall                 50
Cylindrical Interior             52
Beveled perimeter edge           54
Beveled bottom                   56
Rib                              58

Having now described the invention in accordance with the requirements of the patent statutes, those skilled in the art will understand how to make changes and modifications to the disclosed embodiments to meet their specific requirements or conditions. Changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. In addition, the steps of any method described herein may be performed in any suitable order and steps may be performed simultaneously if needed. Use of the singular embraces the plural.

Terms of degree such as “generally”, “substantially”, “about” and “approximately” as used herein mean a reasonable amount of deviation of the modified term such that the end result is not significantly changed. For example, these terms can be construed as including a deviation of at least ±5% of the modified term if this deviation would not negate the meaning of the word it modifies.

Claims

1. A set comprising a plurality of stackable plastic toy building blocks, each stackable plastic toy building block comprising: further wherein each stackable toy building block is in the shape of a figure 8 comprising a left lobe and a right lobe, said left lobe and right lobe separated by arc-shaped recesses located in the front face and rear face, each of the arc-shaped recesses in a stackable toy building block configured to receive at least a portion of a left lobe or a right lobe from another stackable toy building block.

a top comprising a plurality of posts;

a bottom;

a height extending from the top to the bottom;

a left face;

a right face;

a length extending from the left face to the right face and perpendicular to the height;

a front face;

a rear face;

a width extending from the front face to the rear face and perpendicular to the height and length;

a plurality of receptacles located below the top,

wherein the stackable plastic toy building blocks are configured to removably attach by placing the posts of an upper plastic toy building block in the receptacles of a lower stackable plastic toy building block located below the upper plastic toy building block, and

2. The set of claim 1 wherein the left lobe of a stackable toy building block is the same size and shape as the right lobe of the same stackable toy building block, and further wherein the arc-shaped recess in the front face of one stackable toy building block is the same size and shape as the arc-shaped recess in the rear face of the same stackable toy building block.

3. The set of claim 1 wherein the arc-shaped recesses are located in approximately the lengthwise center of the front face and the lengthwise center of the rear face.

4. The set of claim 1 wherein the each stackable plastic toy building block comprises a beveled top left edge and/or a beveled top right edge.

5. The set of claim 4 wherein the beveled top ledge and/or beveled top right edge comprises an arc-shaped recess.

6. The set of claim 5 wherein the recess has a width parallel to the block width of at least 0.25 inches.

7. The set of claim 4, wherein due to the beveled top ledge and/or beveled top right edge, when the upper stackable toy plastic building block is stacked on the lower stackable plastic toy building block, at least a portion of the top left edge of the lower stackable toy plastic building block does not contact the bottom left edge of the upper stackable toy plastic building block and/or at least a portion of the top right edge of the lower stackable toy plastic building block does not contact the bottom right edge of the upper stackable toy plastic building block such that a gap is present between at least a portion of the top edge of the lower stackable building block and the bottom edge of the upper stackable building block at the left faces and/or right faces of the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks to allow a user to separate the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks using his fingertips.

8. The set of claim 7, wherein the gap has a height of from about 0.01 inches to about 0.1 inches.

9. The set of claim 1 wherein the beveled top left edge and/or the beveled top right edge is configured to allow a user to detach a stack of the stackable plastic toy building blocks with the user's fingers alone (without any tools).

10. The set of claim 1 wherein each stackable plastic toy building block is rigid.

11. The set of claim 1 wherein the plastic comprising the stackable plastic toy building block has a Rockwell R hardness of 70-120.

12. The set of claim 1 wherein each stackable plastic toy building block is manufactured by injection molding.

13. The set of claim 1 wherein the posts and receptacles are cylindrical.

14. The set of claim 1 wherein the length is greater than the width.

15. The set of claim 1 wherein the length of the top of each stackable plastic toy building block is less than the length of the bottom of the stackable plastic toy building block.

16. The set of claim 1 wherein the width of the top of each stackable plastic toy building block is less than the width of the bottom of the stackable plastic toy building block.

17. The set of claim 1 wherein each stackable plastic toy building block is symmetrical about a center of the stackable plastic toy building block length and/or width.

18. The set of claim 1 wherein each stackable plastic toy building block comprises a substantially hollow interior and substantially open bottom.

19. The set of claim 1 wherein the posts and receptacles of each stackable plastic toy building block in the set are substantially the same size and shape.

20. A method of using a set comprising a plurality of stackable plastic toy building blocks comprising:

a) providing the set of claim 1;

b) coupling at least two stackable plastic toy building blocks by placing the posts of the lower stackable plastic toy building block in the receptacles of the upper stackable plastic toy building block; and

c) decoupling the upper and lower stackable plastic toy building blocks without using any tools.